


Keep Me in the Loop

by dip_the_pip



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Alcohol, M/M, Mutual Pining, Phan Fluff, Some angst, Workplace Relationship, as the fic updates ill add tags if i need to, dan howell is older than phil, indirect homophobia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-09
Updated: 2019-11-03
Packaged: 2020-01-07 05:36:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 18,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18404180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dip_the_pip/pseuds/dip_the_pip
Summary: When Martyn's younger brother comes to town looking for work, Dan has to be as professional as possible when his best friend's brother starts working for their company.





	1. Chapter 1

Dan was reading over an email from his boss when there was a soft knock on his closed office door. He paused his music and tugged out his earbuds before calling out, “Come in,”

Martyn opened the door and stepped inside, closing the door behind him and going to plop himself down into the chair across from Dan’s desk. “How are you doing, Dan?”

Dan shrugged, leaning back in his leather chair and sighing softly. “Oh, y’know, fucking miserable. Yourself?”

“I’m doing alright. I fucked up on some paperwork, though, so I gotta come in tomorrow and fix it up.”

Dan laughed, rolling his eyes at his clueless co-worker. “You’ve been here 7 years and the interns are still catching your fuck-ups?”

Martyn shrugged, picking at his nails. “What are the interns gonna do, fire me?”

“Boss-man might.”

“You wouldn’t let that happen.”

Dan scoffed, grinning. “What makes you think that, Marty?”

“You love me too much, you’d be lost without me.”

“Damn, you figured out my secret. I’m head-over-heels in love with you. Gotta call Cornelia and apologise.”

Martyn chuckled, leaning back in the chair and setting his feet up on Dan’s desk. “Corny already knows, I’m sure.”

“Why are you here, Lester? Just to brag that you get to come in on a Saturday because a snotty intern caught your mistakes?”

“Almost the complete opposite, actually. My brother is coming to visit, his plane comes in tomorrow. Cornelia is in the studio all day and I’ll be stuck-”

“Martyn fuckin’ Lester, I’m not spending my day off picking up your brother from the airport.”

Martyn rolled his eyes, sighing dramatically. “Why can’t you just be the bestest friend in the whole wide world and do this one little errand for me?”

“You should’ve done your work correctly and you wouldn’t be in this situation.”

“I’ll give you gas money. Please man, you just need to get him at the airport and take him to my apartment. It’ll take less than an hour.”

Dan sat up in his seat a bit straighter, resting his forearms on his desk and clasping his hands together. He could not believe he was giving in to Martyn. “Gas money and lunch money for the inconvenience.”

“Deal. I’ll transfer you the money when I get home and then text you his number and flight information.”

“Now get the hell out of my office before I double my prices.”

“Yessir.” Martyn jumped out of the chair and blew Dan a kiss before walking out of the office and shutting the door quietly behind himself.

-

Dan parked his car in the pick-up zone of the airport and texted Martyn’s brother that he was here and the colour and model of his car. The younger Lester replied with far too many emoji’s and less than 15 minutes later, Dan was popping the boot of his car for the black-haired boy to toss his suitcase into.

He had met him a few times before, very briefly. Dan knew he lived out on the Isle of Man with their parents, but usually it’d be Martyn flying out of London to go see them.

Last time he saw Martyn’s brother, he could’ve sworn that he had light brown hair, but the box-black hair contrasted nicely against his skin.

He climbed into the car after closing the trunk and smiled at the driver. “Hey there, thanks for coming to get me.”

Dan began pulling out of the pick-up line and heading in the direction of Martyn’s apartment. “No problem, Phil. Martyn practically begged me to.”

Phil laughed nervously, fidgeting with his fringe that his face was hiding behind. “I told him I could’ve grabbed a cab, but he wouldn’t let me.”

“Yeah, he seems pretty over-protective. How long are you around for?”

“Uh, I’m not sure yet. I haven’t booked a ticket back yet, but probably not long.”

Dan nodded. “Hopefully your brother sorts his shit out, so he’ll be able to actually take you back to the airport instead of getting called in on a Saturday.”

The younger snickered, covering his mouth with his hand. “Hopefully. How often does he get called in on Saturdays?”

“More often than he should considering his position.”

“So, you work with him?”

“Sort of? I overlook his division of the office. I do the same work as him, I’m just responsible for everyone in our department. That also means I get my own office.”

“He must be jealous then?”

Dan chuckled, glancing over at the younger Lester. “Maybe, but I’m the reason he hasn’t been fired yet, so he’s not allowed to be jealous.”

There was a lull in their conversation. The music played softly over the stereo, and Dan could see Phil tapping his foot. Whether it was to the music or out of nervousness, he couldn’t tell. “So, are you going to Uni?”

“Uh, I graduated from York with a Master of Arts in Video Postproduction with Visual Effect …”

“Oh, so you’re working?”

“Not right now, I’m, uh, in-between jobs, I guess?”

Dan nodded, turning the music up a few more notches for them to listen to, letting the conversation die out.

A little while later they arrive at Martyn’s apartment. Dan parks and goes to help Phil get his suitcase out of the back before climbing back in and pulling out his phone, texting Martyn.

_baby lester has been delivered – D_

Dan queued up a few songs on his playlist and was about to plug it into the AUX cord and begin his drive home when he receives a reply from Martyn.

_im a dumbass – M_

_i know that, but why? -D_

_i locked the apartment before I left. Phil just texted me asking where the spare key is – M_

_are you fucking kidding me – D_

_Can he just hang out at your place for a bit? – M_

_why cant you just come let him in? – D_

_im not driving across the city to let him in. please take him back to your place and I’ll pick him up after work. – M_

_you owe me an extra 30 pounds – D_

_Deal. He should be coming back to the car soon – M_

True to his word, the younger Lester appeared back at Dan’s car. Dan popped the trunk and watched in the rearview mirror as Phil loaded his suitcase back in and slammed the boot shut before climbing back into the passenger’s seat.

“I’m really sorry. I didn’t know that Mart was going to lock his apartment,”

Dan waved his hand dismissably before he began driving back. “Don’t worry about it, it’s not your fault. We’re gonna go spend his money on some good takeaway. You like Indian food?”

“Absolutely.”

“Perfect.”


	2. Chapter 2

A few hours later they were on Dan’s couch sharing some takeaway while mindlessly watching Family Guy on Netflix. Dan relaxed into the couch and let his gaze drift over to the younger Lester, who was focused on the show and his food. He was cute, but not really Dan’s type. There was a lot of resemblance between the brothers physically, but not personality-wise. Martyn may goof-off at work, but Phil gives off a vibe of dorkiness, which Dan doesn’t hate. It’s part of the reason he finds him cute.

Dan knew he shouldn’t be looking at Martyn’s brother this way, but he’s only human. Phil had bright eyes and the kindest smile and a laugh that sounds like it came from an angel.

Also, his lips.

Fuck.

They were pretty, plump and pink, and Dan cursed himself internally for the thoughts racing through his mind. As fun as it’d be to make this pretty boy fall apart, he didn’t think Martyn would ever forgive him for corrupting his brother.

His thoughts are interrupted by a phone dinging, and Phil grabbed his phone off the table and smiled. “Martyn’s here, I gotta get going.” He stood up and took his plate to Dan’s kitchen before going to slip on his shoes.

Dan followed him, standing there watching him with his hands stuffed into his pockets. He had a few inches on the younger Lester, and that filled him with an unexplainable warmth in his chest.

“Thank you so much for putting up with me today. I really appreciate it.” Phil said, looking up at Dan through his overgrown fringe. Dan resisted the urge to push him against the wall and make Martyn wait another hour so he could have his way with the beautiful boy. Instead, he smiled kindly and gave a curt nod.

“It was no problem, really. It was nice seeing you again, Phil. If you need anything while you’re in the city, let me know.”

Phil looked up at him with bright blue eyes and a shy smile. “Thanks, Dan.” He said softly, and Dan could’ve sworn that he glanced at his lips before turning to grab his suitcase walking out of the apartment.

-

Monday morning Dan arrived to work around 9am and went into his office. It was rare that he was every actually here on time, usually he’d get unlucky and be late for the tube or decidedly snooze his alarm more times than he was supposed to. Today he had to sit in on interviews though, so he had no choice but to arrive on time. He put down his bag and set up his laptop before going to the staff room to make a coffee. 

When he walked in, he was shocked that the first thing that caught his eye was the raven black hair and bright blue eyes that he hadn’t been able to get out of his mind all weekend.

“Good morning, Phil.” He said as cheerfully as he could muster for a time that he considered to be early. The younger man smiled back at him brightly.

“Morning! How was your weekend?” Phil asked, his hands clasped around a steaming mug of coffee.

“Pretty laid back after you left,” He chuckled. “What about you? What are you doing here?”

“My weekend with Mart was pretty boring too! And he dragged me in this morning. Said that I needed to try looking for a job and figured he could get me a PA job or something here.”

Dan poured his coffee before going to sit across from Phil at the round table. “A job? I thought you were just visiting?”

“Yeah, I, uh, it’s a long story, but Martyn and Cornelia and I talked it out and decided that I was going to stick around for a while until I get my life back on track. We figured the best place to start would be the place where he already has a job. I’d help Corn out at the studio if I wasn’t missing a musical gene.”

Dan chuckled, reaching for the plate of muffins on the table. “I’m missing a musical gene too. Most I can do is play piano, but even that is shit.”

“I can’t even keep a beat. Even Martyn was a DJ for a while. Clearly I got ripped off in the genetic lottery.”

“Well, you didn’t end up too bad.” Dan said with a quick wink before he stood up with coffee and muffin in hand. “Good luck with your interviews, I’ll see you in there.”

“You’ll…what? Why?”

“I’m involved in the interview process. The head of each department is.”

Phil tilted his head, looking at him with confusion in his eyes. “Martyn said I was going to apply for a PA job for him?”

Dan laughed softly and shook his head. “No, only the heads get PA’s. He may have been here a long time, but he doesn’t get a personal assistant. If he could go a month without having to come in on a Saturday, I’d consider it.”

“So…I’d be your assistant?”

“Or the PA of the head of another department, yeah. _If_ you get the job, that is.”

Phil nodded, looking down into his coffee before looking back up with a bright smile. “Well, I’m going to try my damn best.”

“I’m sure you’ve got this, Phil. I need to go help prep for interviews.”

Phil offered a little wave. “See you in a bit!”

-

The heads of the five departments in their building are sitting around a conference table. They all had their questions prepped, but really, none of them took it too seriously. They knew the types that’d be coming it, for the most part. They’d usually be broke uni students and parents that hadn’t worked since before their children were born.

No one was spectacular, but everyone took notes on the interviewees that they thought had potential. Phil’s interview went smoothly, though it was obvious he was nervous. He fidgeted, stumbled on his words, and generally just looked uncomfortable. But Dan knew him, at least a little better than the other four heads. He knew he wasn’t typically like this, but no one ever does well in interviews.

Dan took note of his name and interview number. He figured he could help Martyn and Phil out by offering him a job, even though he wasn’t significantly qualified for the job. Realistically, though, all he’d be doing is getting coffee and answering calls for him. It wasn’t a difficult job by any means.

When the interviews were over, the head of HR pulled up a slideshow with the picture and key notes from the person’s CV. Everyone looked over their own notes and made comments on whether the person would be a good or bad fit, and which department wanted the interviewee. They were allowed to vote on two people, and then there’d be a debate if there was more than one person who wanted the person.

When it came to voting Dan put his first vote on Phil, and his second on a University student named Carey. The head of Marketing voted on Phil as well for their first vote, and Dan really had nothing to back him up besides Phil being Martyn’s brother.

It made more sense for Phil to be in Marketing with his Uni degree anyways, so he pulled out his vote for Phil and was the only vote for Carey.

“Great,” The head of HR began, “I’ll email everyone within the hour and get their welcome packages ready to begin next Monday.” And with that, everyone got up and left the conference room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> come say hi on tumblr [@dip-the-pip](https://dip-the-pip.tumblr.com/)


	3. Chapter 3

Dan made his way back to the break room to get himself another coffee, walking in to see Phil and Martyn at a table tucked away in the corner.

“How’d the little man do, Howell?” Martyn asked, reaching over to pat his brother on the shoulder. Phil laughed nervously, looking up at Dan with a small smile.

“I’m sure I absolutely messed it up.”

“You were just a bit nervous,” Dan reassured. “everyone was. You did really great. And you didn’t hear it from me, but you should be getting an email later on from HR about your job offer.” Dan grinned, taking the third seat at the table after grabbing another coffee.

“Wait, really? I got in with your department?”

“Well, uh, not exactly. Marketing wants you. They figured you’d be more useful there with your degree than our department.”

“But isn’t it just a PA job, why does his degree matter?” Martyn asked.

Dan shrugged, looking across at the brothers. “No idea. Maybe so they could train him for a position later on? They probably see potential in him.”

Phil chewed on his lip momentarily before shrugging. “Well, a job is a job.”

“Exactly! Plus, you’ll still get to see your brother every day.”

Phil scrunched up his nose. “I don’t want to see him every day, he stinks.”

“Oi!”

Dan snickered, blowing softly on his steaming coffee. “he’s got a point, Mart.”

“Bullies, you two are.” Martyn stood up and pushed his chair in. He went to the counter and topped up his coffee before turning back to Dan and Phil. “I’m going back to work, think you can grab something for dinner, Phil?”

Phil nodded. “Yeah, I’m gonna head out once I finish my drink.”

“Perfect, see you in a bit.”

“Hey,” Dan said, turning in his chair to face Martyn. “actually get your work done so I don’t have to demand you in on Saturday again.”

“It’s only Monday, I’m not going to fall behind that much.”

“I feel like we have this discussion every week.”

“Touché. I’m going to actually go do my work, Howell. Don’t worry.”

Dan chuckled and turned back to the table.

“How has he not been fired yet?” Phil asked with a soft chuckle.

Dan shrugged, taking a hesitant sip of his still hot coffee. “I like him too much. He’s too good of a friend to get rid of, even though I want to smack him upside the head sometimes.”

“I want to do that too, but I think it’s more of a brotherly thing.”

Dan nodded, smiling. “I feel the same way about my younger brother. Though, I’m not as close to him as you and Martyn are. He just likes to push my buttons.”

“Pushing buttons is literally in the job description for being a little brother. What else are we meant to do with our time?” Phil giggled, hiding his smile behind his mug as he took another sip.

“You’ve got me there.” Dan grinned, “I’ve gotta say, I’m a little jealous of how close you and Martyn are. If my brother asked to come live with me, I think I’d just laugh in his face. I couldn’t imagine putting up with him for longer than a weekend.”

“We’ve really had no choice but to be close. We shared a bedroom for a long time, and even after we got our own rooms, our mum made him take me everywhere with him and his friends. Luckily for them, I was a quiet kid. As long as they bought me food, I didn’t annoy them.”

Dan chuckled. “Damn, that sounds a lot like me now.”

“Oh, I’m definitely still like that.” Phil grinned. “Anyways, I should get going. It was really nice getting to see you again, Dan.”

Dan looked up from his coffee as Phil got up to go throw out his paper cup. He couldn’t just ask him to stay, but he felt like he needed to do _something_. _Anything._

He stood up quickly after Phil, patting down his pockets before pulling out one of his crumpled-up business cards. He grabbed a pen from the counter and scribbled his number onto the back of the card before turning back to Phil and holding it out to him. “Here. Uh, take this. It has my number. My cell number. And…well my work phone and email too. But uh, I figured maybe if you needed anything when Martyn is busy, or needed a ride somewhere, it’s better to be safe than sorry. Not saying that you can’t take care of yourself-” Dan rambled, scratching the back of his neck nervously as Phil took the card, his cheeks tinged pink and a smile on his lips.

“Thanks, Dan.  Really. It’s nice having someone here that isn’t just my brother and sister-in-law. I’ll definitely shoot you a text if I need something.”

Dan nodded, smiling nervously at the younger Lester. “Great. Great, yeah. And if you have any questions about the job or anything, just let me know.”

“I will. I should get going though. I’ll text you later on!”

Dan nodded and offered him a wave as he watched him walk out. Dan sighed heavily and went to top up his coffee and steal another muffin before heading back to his office. He spent the rest of his day answering E-mails and returning phone calls that he had missed while in the interviews.

A few hours passed and he was added to an E-mail thread with Carey and HR saying that they were being offered the job and that if they accepted, they’d be able to start Monday. E-mails went back and forth with a few questions, which ended with Carey accepting the job.

Dan got home that night around 7pm. He pulled out a frozen dinner and popped it in the microwave before going to pour himself a glass of wine. He sipped it slowly, letting the slightly bitter drink stain his lips a lovely shade of red.

He checked his phone, slightly disappointed that he hadn’t received any messages from Phil. However, there was one from Martyn.

_Hey man, any idea when Phil will hear about the job? – M_

_hm ??? – D_

_he should’ve gotten an email hours ago. HR said they were sending out emails soon after the PA’s were picked – D_

_He’s been obsessively checking his email all day, apparently – M_

_ugh - D_

Dan put his tray of food on his dining room table before going to grab his laptop and emailing the head of marketing.

-

_Hello, Jeffrey_

_One of our interviewee’s, Phil Lester, said that he never received his job acceptance email from HR. I don’t believe he has any way of contacting you, and Martyn Lester wanted me to make sure everything was taken care of._

_Best regards,_

_Daniel Howell_

_-_

_Hey Dan,_

_Last minute, I changed my mind. I decided to bring on Klarance instead._

_Jeff_

-

Dan ignored Jeff’s rather unprofessional E-mail, and instead began to panic slightly. Martyn’s brother needed this job. He had told Phil himself that he had gotten a job. There were only so many option’s Dan had, but he knew for sure that he wasn’t going to let him lose this job. He couldn’t let that happen to Phil.  

Dan quickly sent a text to the head of HR, knowing he wouldn’t be replying to E-mails after hours. As guilty as Dan felt about letting Carey go before they had even started the job, he needed to do this for Phil. He knew, realistically, Phil could’ve gotten a job anywhere. Hell, the coffee shop in the building probably would’ve hired him, but this was more convenient for Martyn and Phil. Plus it was a good excuse for Dan to get to know him better and make sure he was being set up for success.

After an apology letter to Carey and an extra confirmation from HR, Dan texted Phil.

_be ready to start Monday, lester - D_

 ----

The next day, HR sent the confirmation paperwork to Phil and he would be ready to start Monday morning. Dan continued his own paperwork, a small buzz under his skin of excitement about the new PA he was going to be getting. Sure, it might’ve been his best friends’ brother, but it was still exciting.

Martyn had thanked him profusely that morning, to which he replied that it was no issue and he was happy to take Phil under his wing. Phil had sent him another email, and another text thanking him, too.  

Friday afternoon, there was a knock on his office door. He quickly finished off his email and clicked send before shutting his laptop for the day. “Come in.”

Martyn popped his head in with a grin before shutting the door behind him and going to sit across from Dan’s desk. “What are your plans tonight, Boss Man?”

Dan chuckled lowly, tucking his laptop into his messenger bag and raising an eyebrow across to Martyn. “Oh, y’know, the usual. Netflix, takeaway, going to bed at 9pm like an old man.”

“Great so you’re free. Come out with me.”

“What part of ‘the usual’ do you not understand? I’ve got my plans sorted, mate.”

“Yeah, but like, boring plans. Come out with us.”

Dan rolled his eyes, leaning back in his chair and sighing heavily. “Where are you going?”

“Me, Corny, and Phil are just going out to a bar for some drinks.”

Dan ruffled his curls, letting his eyes slip closed. He was exhausted after a long week of work, but he figured a few drinks with some friends wouldn’t hurt. “Fine. If I’m not home by 2am, I’ll gladly fire you.”

“Don’t worry, grandpa. You’re gonna have fun. I’ll text you the details later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> come say hi on tumblr [@dip-the-pip](https://dip-the-pip.tumblr.com/)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a shorter chapter, hopefully I'll be able to get back into the writing mood soon! Sorry for leaving this for so long!

Dan looks himself in the mirror as he buttons up his light blue and black plaid shirt. Usually he’d just wear a graphic tee or something just as comfortable, but he wants to make a good impression. Not on Phil, of course. Phil was his employee’s brother, and his soon-to-be assistant…but it didn’t hurt to look nice, right?

He punches the address into Uber and goes down to the street to wait for his ride. When he arrives, he texts Martyn a quick ‘here’ text, before internally groaning. Martyn said they were going to a bar. From the loud music he can hear from the street, though, Dan immediately knows he’s in for a night of clubbing.

Dan shows his ID before going into the club, letting his eyes scan the crowd before he sees his friends tucked into a booth in the corner and Martyn waving at him. He pushes his way through the crowd before settling into the booth next to Phil, who pushes over a bright and fruity looking drink.

“Martyn said it’s your fave.” He says with a shitty two-eyed wink before sipping his equally as bright cocktail.

Cornelia squeals, leaning over the table to engulf him in a hug. “Dan! I feel like I haven’t seen you in ages!”

“He’s too busy being cooped up in the retirement home.” Martyn snorts, sipping his beer as Cornelia swats his arm.

“You’re two years older than me, dipshit,” Dan laughs, returning Cornelia’s hug before pulling away. “I thought you said we were going to a bar for drinks, not to a club.”

Martyn shrugs. “Corny likes to shake her ass and who am I to say no to a club?”

“You perv, I like the music and the atmosphere. And you’re the one who wanted to come here.”

Phil chuckles, hiding his mouth behind his hand. “She’s got a point, Mart.”

“Why is my family against me?” Martyn leans back into his seat, wrapping an arm around Cornelia’s shoulders. “Buncha assholes, you are.”

Martyn gets up from the table and walks off to the bar, leaving the other three giggling to themselves.

“How do you put up with him? I only see him at work and I’m sick of him!” Dan grins.

Cornelia runs her fingers through her bright red curls. “I don’t know. The Lester’s just have a certain charm to them, I guess.”

“I guess,” Dan agrees, glancing over at Phil before sipping his drink. Martyn walks back over with a waiter carrying 8 shots on a tray.

“Two each, drink up and then we’re getting this night fucking started.” Martyn says, throwing back one of the shots.

Dan shrugs, grabbing one of the shots and clinking it against Phil’s. “See you on the other side.”

\--

There’s so many bodies and hands, but Dan’s eyes are trained on Phil’s blue, and he’s unable to pull his gaze away. They’re dancing close, Phil’s arms around his waist holding him close while Dan’s are draped over his broad shoulders. The music is loud and thudding in the back of Dan’s mind, the world is blurring and slurring around him, and all he can do is focus on Phil. Phil’s arms wrapped around him, Phil’s eyes boring into his own, Phil’s chest pressed against Dan’s. It’s all too much, but still not enough.

After the two shots that Martyn bought them, they had a few more drinks after, with another three vodka shots before Cornelia had dragged them out to the dancefloor. Now, Martyn and Cornelia were nowhere in sight, not that Dan was looking for them, or looking at anyone else for that matter. He leans up against Phil, letting out a shaky breath against his ear before whispering. “Come back to mine?”

They stumble out to the street and climb into a cab, holding hangs tightly and grinning as Dan tells the driver his address. He turns to Phil, reaching up to push his stark black fringe back, holding the back of his head as he pulls him in for a kiss.

Phil places his other hand on his chest, keeping him away. “Mm-mm, travel sickness. Can’t do it.”

Dan snorts, burying his face into his neck and inhaling deeply, melting into his side. “Gosh, you’re too cute….”

“You think I’m cute?” Phil giggles, his tongue poking out between his teeth. “Danny thinks I’m cu-ute, Danny thinks I’m cu-ute!” He says softly in a sing-song voice.

“Mmshut up before I fire you.” Dan mumbles, smiling against Phil’s shoulder. “Does Martyn know we left?”

Phil shakes his head, pulling out his phone and shakily texting his brother. Dan watches as he types, noticing the drunken spelling mistakes but not caring enough to correct him. A moment later, he feels his own phone vibrate in his pocket.

_Take care of my baby bro, Howell. I know where you live and I’m not afraid to hunt you down and hurt you -M_

“Your brother is threatening to kill me,” Dan mumbles, giggling quietly. “Should I be worried?”

“Oh yeah, he’s murdered three other guys. Be afraid, be very afraid.”

Dan snorts softly, grinning. “Maybe I should re-evaluate who I bring home.”

“Definitely not. Martyn’s not really a threat. Well, not too much.”

Dan giggles again, before paying the driver and climbing out at their stop. He offers Phil his hand to help him out, before lacing their fingers together and pulling him close. “Shall we go inside?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> come say hi on tumblr @dip-the-pip


	5. Chapter 5

They stand close in the lift, their hands still linked between them. Once the other woman on the lift gets off on her floor, Dan is quick to push Phil up against the mirrored wall, his hands going to his waist as he makes quick work of kissing down the length of his neck.

Phil tilts his head back, making a soft thud when it hits the mirror. His hand grip Dan’s biceps as he lets out a shaky breath, closing his eyes. “Dan, Dan…”

Dan kisses up his neck and jaw before pulling away slightly, their faces close as Phil looks up into his eyes. Dan feels a blush creep up his neck, loving that he can see just on Phil’s face how far gone he already is. He feels Phil’s soft breaths brush over his face as he reaches up to cup Dan’s cheek, letting his thumb rub against the soft indent of his dimpled cheek. “Mmhm?”

“Can I kiss you?” Phil asks quietly, his eyes flitting between Dan’s dark eyes and his soft pink lips.

Dan cracks a smile, Phil’s thumb indenting with the dimple as he leans in and kisses him softly, his hands gripping Phil’s waist.

He tastes sweet, Dan immediately notices. Sweet like the fruity cocktails he was drinking all night. Sweet like his personality.

A sweetness that could cause an addiction.

And he’d happily get addicted to Phil.

\--

 Once the lift lets them off at Dan floor, he takes Phil by the hand again and pulls him towards his flat. He closes the door behind them and pushes Phil against it, leaning in close to his ear, nipping gently at the lobe. “I’m gonna go change into something more comfortable. Make yourself at home.” He whispers before pulling away with a wink and walking towards his bedroom.

He quickly goes to his ensuite bathroom and uses the toilet before splashing his face with cold water. He looks at himself in the mirror, noticing the ends of his hair starting to curl from the heat of the club. And the heat of Phil, he figures.

He dries his face and goes to change into some sweats and a tshirt before heading back out to the living room. Before he even enters, he can hear Phil’s soft snores from the sofa.

Dan smiles to himself, going around to crouch in front of Phil’s face, gently running his fingers through his hair. “Sleeping beauty?”

There’s a soft grunt from Phil before his eyes open dopily. He grabs the front of Dan’s shirt and pulls him closer, leaning up to kiss him. “You look good…” He slurs quietly.

“And you look exhausted. How about you take my bed tonight?”

“Already tryna get me into your bed, real smooth, Howell.”

Dan rolls his eyes fondly as he pulls away, grabbing Phil’s hands and helping him up off the couch. “C’mon, before you sick all over my living room.”

Phil stands up and closes his eyes, taking a few moments for the world to stop spinning before Dan wraps Phil’s arm around his shoulder and wraps his own arm around Phil’s waist. Phil leans against him, groaning quietly as they make it back to Dan’s room. He sits Phil on the bed before going to his dresser, throwing a pair of pyjama pants and a tshirt towards him.

“Sleeping in skinny jeans isn’t comfortable. You can borrow pj’s from me.”

Phil looks down at the clothing before yawning softly. “Wait, wait, you aren’t actually just trying to get me in your bed? You’re actually…putting me in your bed?”

Dan smiles, going back to stand in front of Phil, pushing his hair back off his forehead. “You’re way too drunk, and already on the verge of passing out. Just get changed and get some sleep, Philly.”

Phil whines softly but nods, grabbing the pyjamas and going off to the bathroom. Dan grabs one of his pillows and a throw blanket off the end of his bed and takes them to the living room, tossing them on the couch. He grabs a large glass of water and a few painkillers for the morning and gets the garbage can from the other bathroom before going back to his room. He places the garbage can next to the bed and sets the water and pills down before going back out to the lounge. He turns off the lights before settling into his make-shift bed on the sofa.

Less than 10 minutes later he hears a soft “Da-an,” from his bedroom. He turns the torch on his phone on before stumbling through the flat, going to stand in the doorway.

“Yes, mister Philip?”

“You coming?”

“Hm?” Dan lets his eyes droop shut, leaning his head against the door frame.

“Coming to bed?”

“Oh, I was gonna crash on the couch.”

Dan opens his eyes slightly, seeing Phil pouting at him. “That’s dumb. This is your bed. You should sleep here. With me. In your bed. Please.”

Dan chuckles quietly, shaking his head as he turns and walks back out to the living room. He returns a moment later with his pillow before going to the other side of the bed. He climbs into the bed with Phil and gets under the duvet, yawning softly.

“Much better,” Phil mumbles, rolling towards Dan and snuggling into his side. Dan looks down at him, noticing he’s practically fast asleep already. He smiles to himself before turning off the lamp on the night table and relaxing into the mattress, letting his hand run up and down Phil’s back soothingly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come say hi on tumblr @dip-the-pip


	6. Chapter 6

Dan wakes up to the smell of bacon and pancakes. He yawns softly and blinks his eyes open, noticing the heavy weight of Phil gone. He rolls over onto his stomach and stretches out, yawning again as his back cracks grossly.

He sits up, rubbing his hand over his face before going to the washroom. When he leaves the bathroom after washing his hands, Phil enters holding a steaming plate of food.

“Nooo, I wanted to make you breakfast in bed!” He whines.

Dan laughs softly, walking over to him and gently taking the plate from his hands. “This is…this is so sweet Phil. Thank you. How about you grab your plate and we eat in my bed together?”

Phil nods and heads back out to the kitchen as Dan climbs back into bed. He grabs his remote, setting up Netflix and nibbling on a piece of bacon. Phil comes back and climbs into bed, getting settled under the duvet next to Dan and leaning against the headboard. Phil quickly notices Dan’s ‘recently watched’ list and perks up. “Oh my gosh, can we watch Brooklyn Nine-Nine?”

Dan giggles, clicking on the comedy cop show. “Sure, I’m only a few episodes into season 3, where are you?”

“I have a few episodes left of season 2! Can we start there?”

Dan nods and hands Phil the remote to pick the episode. He cuts a small bite of pancakes and eat it, groaning loudly. “Good fuck, this is amazing.”

Phil giggles, “It’s my mum’s recipe. I was a picky eater as a kid, but when we’d go on our family vacations to Florida, I fell in love with American pancakes. My mum then made it her mission to recreate those pancakes.”

“How did you manage this? I have like…less than zero groceries right now.”

He blushes. “I had to run to the shop on the corner for a few things. But it’s definitely worth it.”

“How’d you manage that?”

“Borrowed your keys to your apartment and asked the front desk receptionist to let me back into the building before I left.”

Dan grins, shaking his head and eating a blueberry. “Sneaky. How’s the hangover?”

“I’ve had worse. I didn’t sick, but the painkillers helped a lot.”

Dan takes another bite of pancake, grunting. “Fuck me up, these are probably the best pancakes I’ve ever had.”

“Mama Kath lives to impress.”

“Mama Kath can impress me anytime.”

“Gross. Stay away from my mom.” Phil giggles, overloading his fork with pancake and fruit, stuffing it into his mouth and mumbling around his mouthful. “She’s an amazing cook and baker, though.”

“So, what’s the secret to these pancakes?”

“a little bit of cinnamon and vanilla. And fresh fruit, that was the deal when she’d make these for me, I could have as many pancakes as I wanted if I ate the fruit she served with it. She was great as manipulating me to eat and try new things.”

Dan smiles, ripping a piece of bacon. “My personal chef growing up was Birds Eye. Their frozen dinners were amazing. Chicken curry and rice kicked ass.”

“You didn’t have homecooked meals?”

Dan shrugs. “We did sometimes, or my nana would come cook for us. Dad worked a lot and mum was usually either working or taking care of my younger brother and taking him to his sporting events and clubs and stuff. So, most nights it was just me.”

“Oh, Dan, I’m sor-”

“Don’t be, I’m okay. I survived. Now I’m on my own and order takeaway like a responsible adult.”

Phil smiles, nudging him gently with his elbow. “You gotta learn to cook at some point.”

Dan snorts, rolling his eyes and smiling over at him. “Okay, _mum_. I’ll get right on that.”

“Good, now shut up. Cheddar is on screen and deserves all of my attention,” he says, looking up at the little corgi on the screen as they continue to eat away at their breakfast.

\--

“Thanks for taking care of me last night,” Phil says later that day when they’re curled up watching Family Guy reruns. They’re both shirtless now, and Dan’s hair is definitely a lot curlier than it had been when he woke up.

Dan holds him close, kissing the top of his head and letting his nails scratch down his back slowly. “You don’t have to thank me. I only did what any other decent person would’ve done.”

“Don’t undersell yourself like that. You could’ve just left me in the club, or left me on your couch or kicked me out this morning,”

“I mean, you made me breakfast, how could I kick you out after that?” Dan smiles at the ceiling before letting his eyes close slowly, breathing softly. Even though the stench of sweat is still lingering on them from the night before, he can still pick up on hints of vanilla and raspberry coming from Phil. He was right, he really is always sweet.

Phil smacks his chest playfully, burying his face into his shoulder and giggling. “Ah, so now you’re just using me to feed you?”

“Yeah, I mean are you really useful for anything else?”

Phil hits his chest again. “Hey! I’m really useful!”

“Mmm, are you now?” Dan teases.

He can feel Phil’s pout against his shoulder, and he squeezes him tighter. “Guess you’re gonna find out Monday when I start.”

Dan sighs happily, nodding. “Guess I will.”

\--

After another make-out session and many unwatched episodes of a Netflix show later, Phil’s out of bed and getting dressed to head home.

Dan lingers around the sofa, watching him pull on his shoes and attempt to tie them up. “I guess I’ll see you Monday?” He asks, smiling.

Phil smiles at him with tired eyes. “As long as I don’t get fired before then,”

“Well, you’re on thin ice. But I’m sure I can forgive you for seducing your employer.”

Phil snorts, walking over to him and smiling up at him. “Oh, my bad. Though, if I may point out, we’re standing in your apartment. So, maybe you’re on thin ice for seducing one of your employees?”

Dan laughs softly, grabbing his waist and pulling him close. “Hmm, maybe we’re both in the wrong.”

“Well then I don’t wanna be right,” Phil says softly, leaning up and kissing him, wrapping his arms around Dan’s shoulders.

Dan kisses back, pulling Phil into his space closer and breathing him in deeply. “Me neither…”

They kiss for a few more moments, Dan leaning against the back of the couch with Phil’s weight against him. “I really do need to get going though,”

Dan lets out a pitiful whine, pulling away from the kiss and leaning his forehead against his shoulder. “Whyyy?”

“Martyn’s a persistent asshole who needs me to go cook for him.”

Dan huffs out a laugh, squeezing around Phil’s soft middle. “What a lucky brother.”

“You can come, if you’d like?”

Dan shakes his head. “I have work I need to get done. Y’know, important business emails, dumb phone calls, annoying paperwork.”

“Well hopefully when I start, I’ll lighten your load and then you can actually spend weekends with me.”

Dan lifts his head from his shoulder, smirking. “No talking about my _load_ , Mr. Lester.”

Phil rolls his eyes, pulling away from him and laughing. “Dirty old man. Never mind, I’m quitting. I’m gonna go live on the streets. Gross.”

“You literally had my _load_ in your mouth a little while ago.”

Phil cups his hands over his ears, closing his eyes and shaking his head. “La, la, la, la, I can’t hear you!”

Dan throws his head back, laughing and grabbing him by the arms, pulling him close again and pulling his hands off his ears. “Text me when you get home safely?”

Phil smiles, kissing him softly again before nodding. “Of course. Don’t work too hard.”

“Oh, trust me, I won’t.”

They share a few more quick pecks before Phil’s leaving Dan’s flat to head back to Martyn’s.  

Dan leans against the closed door, staring at the ceiling and taking a deep breath, his mind filled with bright blue eyes for the rest of the evening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come say hi on tumblr @dip-the-pip


	7. Chapter 7

Phil texts Dan when he gets home, and they continue texting until Phil falls asleep first. The next morning the conversation continues like Phil hadn’t disappeared for 9 hours to sleep. It felt easy, natural, it felt _fun_.

When Monday rolls around, Dan begrudgingly treks into his office, the bags under his eyes dark from the past few sleepless nights. Minutes after he sits down, Martyn is knocking softly at the door with Phil.

“Hey, Boss-man. Figured I’d deliver him myself.” Martyn says with a cheeky grin, roughly patting his younger brothers’ shoulder. Phil grunts softly and rubs where he was smacked, before smiling at his new employer.

Dan smiles, pulling his laptop out of his bag. “Take him to Board Room 307. They’re doing a quick orientation in there.”

Martyn nods. “Off we go, Brother Dearest,”

Phil snorts and rolls his eyes. He flashes Dan a quick smile before being dragged off by Martyn.

An hour and a half later, there’s a timid knock on Dan’s door. He straightens up in his seat and clears his throat. “Come in!”

Phil peaks his head in the door before stepping in and closing it behind him.

“How was orientation?”

“Dull. Some people here need to take a charisma class.”

Dan snickers, shaking his head a bit and sipping his coffee. “Yeah some of the, ahem, ‘more experienced’ employees are really bland.”

“The old hags are boring?”

Dan nodded. “Yeah, pretty much. HR emailed me and told me your desk won’t get here until the end of the week, so for the first few days I’ll just be giving you the run-down of how everything operates, what your jobs are, and then hopefully you’ll be all set for when your desk arrives.”

“I get my own desk?”

“Yeah, it’ll just be set up outside my office, basically you’ll be my door guard, making sure I’m available if people need to talk to me or setting up appointments if it’s something important.”

Phil nods as he goes to sit in the chair opposite Dan’s desk. The spend a little time going over some of Phil’s tasks and responsibilities before Dan has to leave for a line-up of meetings.

“I should be back in a few hours. You can take your lunch at noon, you get an hour. Just take note of any calls I get and any dates and times for people booking meetings.”

Phil smiles up at Dan as he rummages through his desk looking for different sheets of paper. “I’m sure I can handle it. I’ll see you when you get back.” As Dan’s rushing through the door, Phil grabs his hand and stands up, turning Dan around. He gives his hand a gentle squeeze before leaning up and kissing Dan softly.

Dan kisses back briefly before staring down at Phil, frozen in place. “I should, uh, I should get going. To those meetings. I need to go,” he pointed his thumb over his shoulder, face pinkening, “to the meetings,” he finished quickly, before turning and stumbling out of his office, closing the door behind him.

On his way to the board room, Martyn grabs Dan’s wrist when he tries to pass his desk. “How’s little Lester doing?”

Dan blinks quickly a few times before looking at Martyn and taking a deep breath. “Uh, yeah. Phil’s doing great. I mean, it’s a fairly easy job but-”

“Are things okay between you two from the weekend? Like, you aren’t going to take advantage of him at work, are you?”

Dan looks around quickly in a panic before leaning down closer to Martyn, talking in a hushed voice. “Dude, no one can know about the weekend, okay? And no, of course I’m not going to _take advantage of my employee_.”

Martyn raises an eyebrow at him, and sits up a bit straighter, giving off a different demeanor than Dan had ever seen. “My brother really likes you, Howell,” Dan quickly realizes this is Martyn going into ‘big brother’ mode, something he might’ve had experience with if there wasn’t such an age-gap between himself and his own brother, “and you’re one of my closest friends, even if you are a bit of a twat sometimes. All I’m saying is, don’t hurt him. I know you like to act like you have no emotions or feelings, but Phil does. He’s fragile, he feels emotions. As his brother and your friend, I’m asking you to please be careful. Let him down easy.”

“Let him down easy? We aren’t dating or anything. It was just a one-off fling. Phil and I are on the same page about where we stand.”

“Are you? Because I was with him the rest of the weekend listening to him go on and on about you and how you took care of him and how good of a guy you are. You’re a good guy, but you and I both know you aren’t good at relationships.” Martyn pats Dan’s shoulder, taking a deep breath and squeezing his shoulder tight.

Dan shrugs his hand off his shoulder, standing up and straightening his dress shirt. “Thanks for reminding me. Now, I have to go to some important meetings. Check on Phil every now and again, will you?”

Dan doesn’t wait for a response as he turns and walks away from Martyn’s desk.

He spends his next few hours sat in meetings, though he isn’t following along more than the occasional “okay” or, “sounds good”.

He couldn’t date Phil. He just couldn’t. And Shouldn’t. It’s his best friend’s younger brother, he’s his employee. He’s Phil’s boss.

But the thought of Phil’s lips running over someone else’s neck…it fills Dan with a gross surge of jealousy. Of possessiveness. A need to _claim_.

Realistically, he couldn’t “claim” Phil even if he wanted to. He was his own person, he could choose to be with whoever he wants. But it doesn’t stop the desire deep in Dan’s gut to cover him in light pink and dark red marks along his neck and chest.

The hickeys would look so pretty blossoming across Phil’s milky white skin, and that though alone has Dan shifting in his seat as his cheeks heat up.

Voices keep rambling on in the board room, and as the hours pass, different people come in and they start a whole new meeting.

Around 3pm Dan finally gets out of his meetings and immediately goes into the bathrooms, leaning against the wall and willing himself to calm down before going back to his small office with Phil again. He goes and splashes a bit of water on his overheated cheeks before looking at himself in the mirror, quickly fixing his hair.

He dries his hands off with paper towel and pats his face dry before going back to the office. Phil’s sitting behind his desk, on the phone. He’s quickly scribbling notes onto a post-it note and before Dan knows it, he’s saying goodbye and hanging up.

“Hey, Dan! How were your meetings?”

Dan shrugs, going to collapse on his couch and groaning. “Miserable. Boring. Long. Foodless.”

“Have you not eaten yet?” Phil asks, looking over at him with concern.

He shakes his head, moving to lay down and letting out a long yawn. “Nope. Meetings went through lunch.”

“You didn’t bring anything?”

Dan snorts. “You saw my apartment. I don’t have anything _to_ bring. I usually just order food.”

Phil smiles and pulls out his phone, pulling up a food delivery service app. “What do you fancy?”

Dan smiles sleepily, looking over at him with droopy tired eyes. “You choose. Make it good.”

“Will do, boss.” Phil giggles as he places an order, watching as Dan drifts to sleep on the couch.

A little while later Dan wakes up to the smell of something delicious. He looks over to his desk, where Phil is setting up their food which looks to be takeaway Chinese food.

“Smells good,” Dan mumbles, slowly sitting up.

Phil groans, turning to face him. “Why do you always wake up when I’m trying to set up something cute for you?”

Dan shrugs, rubbing his face and smiling. “Maybe you’re just too predictable.”

Phil pushes back his own fringe as he unpacks more takeaway containers. “Fine, order your own food next time.”

He whines, getting off the couch and going to hug Phil from behind, tucking his nose into his neck and inhaling deeply. “No thank you, I much prefer sharing with you.”

Phil tenses up a bit, but he quickly relaxes into Dan’s touch, covering Dan’s hands with his own. “Me too. Now, come eat before it gets cold.”

Dan pulls away and goes to sit behind his desk, his stomach grumbling. “Fuck, I’m starving.”

“Didn’t you have breakfast?”

“Does two black coffees count?”

“No,” Phil says, shaking his head.

“Then no, I didn’t have breakfast.”

Phil rolls his eyes fondly, mixing his chicken, veggies and rice. “How have you survived this long? You need to learn how to take care of yourself.”

“Well, why would I do that when I have you taking care of me?”

“Because maybe I wanna be taken care of occasionally,” Phil smirks.

Dan sighs heavily, a grin playing on his lips. “How about I take care of you and dinner this weekend. Friday night, dinner at my place?”

Phil smiles, leaning back in his chair and nodding. “It’s a date.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on tumblr @dip-the-pip


	8. Chapter 8

The week passes by faster than usual, Dan notices. Maybe its from being trapped in meetings most of the week, but he thinks spending time with Phil makes the days go by quicker. Dan’s certain he hasn’t looked forward going into work this much since his promotion. Sure, his other assistants were great, but he never really clicked with them. They answered calls and emails and set up appointments, just as Phil does, but he never found himself wanting to spend time with them outside of work. Hell, even during work he barely talked to his assistants besides to get updates.

Phil feels different, and Dan isn’t sure if that’s a good or a bad thing. He thinks it’s a good thing…

But he’s worried. He knows what they’re doing is wrong. He is Phil’s boss, he holds power over him. It isn’t a fair dynamic. He knows he should end it, he knows they need to have _that_ discussion, but there just hasn’t been a right time yet.

Phil’s own desk arrived Wednesday, and it fills Dan with relief, and also a little sadness. It’ll be good for them, and Dan’s budding crush, not to be cooped up in Dan’s office all day. The distance between them is needed, but unwanted on Dan’s part. If it were his choice in a perfect world, he’d have Phil next to him all day if he could.

From Wednesday on, Dan’s days start to feel a little longer again, but it’s worth it getting to spend time with Phil and sometimes Martyn on their breaks and during lunch. Dan loves the dynamic between Phil and his brother, partially wishing his bond with his younger brother was that strong. He knows that’s not possible, but it’s nice to imagine.

As Dan’s waiting for the final minutes of work to pass on Friday, a smile is instantly brought it his lips when he hears the soft tapping on his door. It’s Phil’s knock. Dan learned he was much more timid with his knocks than Martyn’s usual loud banging.

“Come in,” Dan says loud enough to be heard from outside his closed door. Phil peeks his head in and smiles brightly as his boss.

“Hey,” He says as he steps in, going to sit in the comfortable chair opposite Dan’s desk.

“Hey, ready for tonight?”

“Yeah, about that…Martyn just came over and told me that our mum is on her way down to visit for the weekend. Do you think we could push dinner to another night or-”

Martyn opens the door dramatically, a grin on his lips, being very obvious that he was eavesdropping. “Dan you coming to dinner with us?”

“Wh-”

Phil rolls his eyes. “Dan isn’t gonna want to sit through a boring dinner with us.”

“I mean, yeah I didn’t have any other plans tonight. I’m free, if you want me there.” Dan says with a shrug of his shoulders.

“You don’t have you,” Phil cuts in.

Martyn waves his hand dismissively. “Don’t listen to him. You’re coming with us. I’ll text you the restaurant. Reservations are for 7pm, don’t be late.”

Martyn leaves the office and Phil rubs his face, groaning.

Dan smiles softly, shrugging a little. “Hey, at least we get that date.”

“Ah yes my favourite kind of date, with my mum and my brother and sister-in-law.”

Dan chuckles, “It’ll be fun, plus you get food out of the deal.”

Phil smiles, looking over at Dan with soft eyes. “Fine. We can go back to your place after dinner though, if you’d like?”

“Sounds like a plan.”

\--

Dan arrives to the restaurant 15 minutes early, impatiently awaiting The Lester’s. Cornelia is the first one he sees, her bright red head bounding towards him and engulfing him in a hug.

“Dan!” She says happily, giving him an extra squeeze before pulling away, keeping a hold on his bicep. “Ready to meet Mother Kath?”

Dan swallows thickly, leaning into her grasp before shrugging. “Guess I don’t have much of a choice, do I?”

“Nope, you don’t. She’ll love you anyways,” Cornelia says with a quick wink before he sees an older woman walking over with the two Lester boys.

She speaks first, walking a few steps ahead of her sons and opening her arms to him. “You must be Dan, Marty’s told me so much about you!” She says in a soft-spoken northern accent. Dan accepts the hug, looking over her shoulder at Phil cowering behind her.

“It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Lester, I’ve heard lovely things about you from your sons.”

She pulls away, swatting at his shoulder. “No need for that ‘Mrs. Lester’ nonsense, you can call me Kath, dear.”

“Kath,” Dan corrects himself, “it’s really great to meet you.”

“You as well, have you been waiting for us long?”

Dan shakes his head. “No, just got here a few minutes ago,” He lies, smiling down at Kathryn.

“Wonderful! Let’s go see if our tables ready, I’m sure you’re all hungry,”

Phil steps towards Dan, smiling up at him before smiling at his mum. “I’m always starving. I’m always ready to eat.”

Kath reaches out and pats Phil’s stomach. “Growing boy, always so hungry!” She says with a soft giggle as she walks into the restaurant.

Dan snorts, reaching out to pat Phil’s tummy too. “Aww are you still going through a growth spurt, growing boy?” He says teasingly, earing himself a smack in the chest from Phil.

“Shut up, I’m gonna grow to be taller than you, Howell.” Phil mumbles as he follows his family inside.

“In your dreams,” Dan mumbles back, unable to keep a smile off his face as they get lead to their table.

“Where’s dad?” Martyn asks as they all sit down, Cornelia sitting on his other side as Dan and Phil sit across from them. Kath takes a seat at the head of the table, unfolding her napkin and laying it across her lap.

“He was feeling ill and decided to stay back this time. He sends his love, of course.”

Dan smiles at Kathryn. “How was the drive?”

“Flight, dear, and it was fairly unexciting.”

“Oh, flight? Where abouts are you?”

“Isle of Man,” Phil butts in, smiling. “It’s really pretty there.”

Dan smiles back at him, nodding. “My nana used to visit the Isle, she’s always loved it.”

Dinner progresses with casual conversation, touching on subject like how Cornelia’s music is coming along, how Martyn and Cornelia’s renovations are going, and of course, how Phil’s new job is going.

“I’ve only been there a week, nothing too hectic or horrendous has happened yet. I mean, besides being late one morning because Martyn left early, and the buses were all delayed.”

Kathryn tsk-ed softly at Martyn. “You’re supposed to be taking care of him, not abandoning him.”

“He’s a big boy, he’ll figure it out himself.” Martyn says with a shrug, earning an elbow in the ribs from Cornelia.

“Take better care of your brother, child.” She says, throwing a soft glare Martyn’s way.

She turns her attention back over to her other son and Dan. “So, how long have you two been together?”

“Oh, uh-” Dan’s eyes widen as he glances over at Phil, who looks just as panicked.

“They started seeing each other last time Phil came to visit,” Martyn covers for them, smiling.

Kathryn nods. “Understandable why he’d want to move here then, you two make a lovely couple.”

Dan feels his cheeks heat up and he’s certain the rosy patch is in full effect, but it settles his nerves slightly when Phil finally speaks up.

“Yeah, it’s been a few months, but uh, yeah I guess its sort of official now…?”

Kath smiles brightly at the two boys. “That’s absolutely lovely! Why didn’t you tell us?”

Phil shrugs, casting a glance towards Dan before smiling back at his mum. “Guess I didn’t want to jinx it.”

“Always the superstitious one, you are.” She laughs softly as she asks Cornelia about her recent trip back to Sweden.

Dan continues to look at Phil, a small smile stretching across his lips. ‘A few months?’ Dan mouths to him, watching as Phil grins and cheeks pinken.

‘sorry,’ he mouths back, discreetly reaching over and squeezing Dan’s thigh before pulling his hand away, smiling.

Their food arrives shortly after and they eat in mostly silence, with the occasional praise of the food or a question that pops into someone’s mind.

After Kath pays, because she insists on treating them, Dan follows them towards Martyn’s car.

“Are you coming back with us, Dear?” Kath asks Dan with a soft smile.

“Oh, I really should let you all go home and catch up,” Dan glances over at Martyn and Phil, who both shrug.

“Don’t be ridiculous, come have a cuppa tea with us. Unless you have somewhere else to be?”

Dan watches as Phil shrugs again, smiling. “As long as you don’t mind,” Dan says, says before they all begin to climb into Martyn’s car with Dan, Phil, and Cornelia stuffed in the back.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to sit in the back? Phil and Dan look so squished, their heads might pop off!” Kathryn says with concern, looking back at the two giants stuffed in the back with little Cornelia.

“We’ll be okay, it’s just a short trip,” Dan says with a wave of his head.

“Speak for yourself,” Phil scoffs, wiggling his hips to try to make more room for himself.

Cornelia swats at his knee. “Your mum gets the front seat, stop arguing.”

“You’re tiny enough, maybe we should just strap you to the roof?”

Dan snickers as Cornelia gasps melodramatically. “I know where you sleep, little Lester, watch your mouth,”

“I think he could probably step on you, Corn, be careful. The Growing Boy might have some angry hormones running through him!” Dan giggles, watching as Phil turns to gap at him.

“Bunch of bullies, you lot are.” Phil huffs.

“Y’all behave or you can walk home,” Martyn says from the front, casting a glance at them through the rearview mirror.

They all mumble apologies before Kathryn starts rambling on about her book club and some of the drama at church. The three squished in the back eventually settle into their seats, listening to the stories of people they don’t know.

Dan watches out the window as they drive through the city towards Martyn and Cornelia’s apartment. Dinner could’ve gone worse, he figures. His brain keeps replaying the conversation about Phil saying they were together, over and over again…

_I guess it’s sort of official now?_

Phil’s voice keeps repeating over and over and over, running laps around Dan’s brain. They _need_ to have that conversation, they need to figure…whatever they are, out.

“You look lost in your own head,” Dan hears Phil whisper into his ear. Then he feels his knee being gently squeezed before fingers lacing with his own.

 _I may be lost in my own head,_ Dan thinks, _but I’d love for him to show me the way…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> come say hi on tumblr @dip-the-pip


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: some,, indirect homophobia

Dan and Phil squish together in the loveseat as Cornelia sits on the longer couch and Martyn and Kath busy themselves in the kitchen making tea.

Cornelia grins knowingly, tucking her legs under herself as she gets comfortable on the couch. “I didn’t realize you two were getting so serious?”

Phil coughs nervously and glances between Dan, Cornelia, and his lap. “I’m sorry, I panicked,” He says to Dan, his voice small, barely enough for Cornelia to hear, but he knows she does by the way her ruby red lips continue to smile at them.

Dan smiles and squeezes Phil’s knee, elbowing him gently in the ribs. “I forgive you. But maybe we do need to have that chat, hm?” he suggests.

Phil nods, leaning into his side and humming in agreement as Martyn and Kathryn return with 4 teacups and one coffee mug, which Kath hands to the youngest Lester.

“Coffee? It’s nearly 9pm mate, are you insane?” Dan squeaks at Phil, looking at him with shock.

Kathryn tsks softly, shaking her head and spooning some sugar into her tea. “I don’t know what’s wrong with that boy, but he’s always been about his caffeine. Morning, evening, 4am, he’ll always take a coffee and burn his tongue.” She smiles lovingly at Phil, who returns with sticking his tongue out at her.

“Only because you and dad would give it to me when I was younger to make me wake up for school. Really, it’s all your fault, such a bad mother,” He teases.

Dan swats at his thigh. “Treat your mum with some respect,” He giggles as he blows softly on his tea.

“I was a wonderful mother. I think I might’ve lost you for a few years, because I definitely didn’t raise you. Martyn turned out normal,” She teases back, but Phil tenses up beside Dan. Dan glances over, seeing Phil’s grip on his mug tighter than it really needed to be, making his knuckles whiten with the strength of his grip.

Kathryn’s the only one giggling softly to herself, as Cornelia and Martyn share a look, and Phil goes in for a drink of his coffee which Dan is positive that it’s way too hot for him to actually be enjoying it.

Thing’s are only tense for a moment before Martyn suggests popcorn and the new episode of The Crown. They settle into their couches after the snacks are grabbed and everyone gets comfortable with blankets.

Dan knows a little bit of the plot line just from reading things on twitter about it, but he’s not overly invested in it like Phil, Kathryn, and Cornelia seem to be. Martyn seems to be on the same page as Dan, since he’s mindlessly scrolling on his phone. Dan doesn’t want to be rude, so he sits through the episode without twitter entertainment.

Phil remains tense throughout the episode, and only relaxes for a few moments whenever Dan gives his hand a gentle squeeze and snuggles into his side more. He seems fidgety, like all he wants is to be out of his own skin.

His tea gets finished and their bag of popcorn quickly got eaten by Phil, so by the time the end of the episode rolled around, Dan stood up with a stretch and a yawn. “I should head out,” He says, ruffling his curls that got flattened while cuddling into Phil’s shoulder.

“Oh, so soon?” Kathryn asks, standing up and stepping around the coffee table to engulf him in a warm, motherly hug. “It was lovely meeting you, I hope you get home safe,”

Phil stands up then, too. “I’m actually gonna go with him, if that’s okay…?”

Kathryn nods, reaching up to stroke her youngest sons’ cheek. “Of course. Martyn was going to make you sleep on the couch anyways.”

Phil laughs, hugging his mum before going and punching his brother playfully in the shoulder. “Sending me to the couch, how rude.”

Martyn shrugs, smiling. “Mother Kath has more power than you.”

“And don’t you forget it,” Kathryn giggles.

-

They say their goodbyes before going to stand out on the side of the road and ordering an Uber.

“Your family is nice,” Dan comments, standing close in Phil’s space and looking down into his blue eyes being illuminated by the streetlights.

“They’re alright. I can only take so much of them, though.”

Dan shrugs. “Sometimes family is just like that. At least you know they love you.”

Phil nods, letting out a deep breath and looking around them. “Yeah,”

-

They climb into their Uber and ride silently back to Dan’s flat. They go inside and within seconds, Phil has Dan backed up against the closed door with his lips attached to his neck.

Dan lets out a breathy sigh, dropping his keys to the floor and letting his arms wrap around Phil’s waist, pulling him closer. “You’re insatiable, aren’t you?”

Phil says nothing, just leans more of his weight against Dan and the door as he pushes his hands roughly up the front of Dan’s shirt, gently scratching his nails over Dan’s nipples, making him gasp loudly. Dan can feel his teeth grazing over his collarbone as Phil pushes their hips together roughly, earning rough grunts from mouth of them.

Dan holds onto Phil’s hips, regretting it almost immediately as he gently pushes Phil away. “What’s going on, Phil?” He asks breathlessly, looking down at Phil with blown-out eyes.

Phil paws at Dan’s chest still, rubbing his hands up and down his ribs, thumbs over his nipples, gentle scratches over the wispy hair on his lower tummy. “Tell me this is right.” Phil says lowly.

“What?” Dan pushes him away gently again when he tries to go back to his neck.

“Tell me I’m not a freak. Tell me I’m normal.”

“Is this about your mums’ joke?” Dan says softly. “You know she probably didn’t mean it that way, she-”

Phil steps away and kicks off his shoes alongside Dan’s collection of shoes. It fills Dan’s chest with a comforting warmth before he remembers to toe off his shoes and follow Phil into his apartment.

“She did mean it that way. How else would she have meant it? I’m not straight so she couldn’t have _possibly_ raised me! Oh, but Martyn’s straight so she did right by him!” Phil says sarcastically, but bitterly. Dan sits on the couch while Phil paces back and forth in front of the tv.

“You’re quirky, that’s probably all she meant by it,” Dan says softly.

“No, my ‘quirkiness’ was why my parents found me annoying and wanted to put me on ADHD medication, my ‘not normalness’ is me being gay.”

“But your mum seems really supportive.”

“I mean, she _is_ , but only because I’m her kid. In general, she doesn’t wanna hear anything associated with ‘the gays’. Except me of course, I’m always the exception.” Phil mutters, rolling his eyes.

“I’m sorry, Phil, I didn’t realize…” Dan shakes his head a bit, looking down at his hands and picking at his nails. “But I get it. My family is the same.”

Phil finally collapses onto the couch next to Dan, leaning his elbows on his knees and burying his face into his hands. “My dad can barely stand being around me anymore. He claims I made it awkward after I came out. It’s fine when I go home to visit, because he can just hop in his car and go out and say he has golf plans with friends. If he came here, he’d be trapped with his gold star straight son and his gay disappointment of a son and I’m enough for him to decide not to come.”

Dan rubs his back in slow, soothing circles. “That’s not your fault. This is your truth, and hopefully one day he’ll come around, but you shouldn’t pretend to be someone you’re not, just to please your parents.”

Phil sniffles, sitting up and nodding a bit. “I guess I should be grateful that my mum talks to me at least…some people aren’t that lucky,”

“And she’s trying to prove that she’s _trying_. She’s trying to love you for who you are. She does love you. She might not love that part of you, but she’s trying to learn to love it too.”

“Why does it have to be this hard? I just want to be loved by my parents and not feel like an outcast in my own damn family…”

Dan shrugs, kissing his shoulder before wrapping his arms around him and leaning back into the couch, Phil curling in against his chest. “At least you have your brother and Cornelia,”

“And you.”

“Yeah. Of course, and me.” Dan nods, giving him an extra squeeze. “Should we have the uh, relationship talk tonight?”

Phil shakes his head. “Can it wait until morning? I kinda just want to binge watch garbage tv and go to sleep,”

Dan kisses his forehead and smiles. “Let’s go to bed,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> come say hi on tumblr @dip-the-pip


	10. Chapter 10

Dan wakes up to the heavy weight of Phil on him. He smiles sleepily to himself, wrapping his arms around Phil tighter and enjoying being squished by the younger man. “You ‘wake?” He mumbles into Phil’s neck, kissing along the smoothness of his neck.

“No,” He hears Phil quietly mumble back, burrowing more into Dan’s chest and groaning. “Don’t wanna be awake, wanna be sleeping,”

Dan giggle’s and gives him a squeeze, gently poking him in his side, causing him to squirm and whine.

“Da-an,” He whines, rolling off of him and pouting up at him. Dan moves to roll on top of him, straddling his waist and smiling down at him.

“Yes, Lester?”

Phil pushes his lip to pout out more, his bright blue eyes gazing up at Dan. Dan leans down and captures the pouted lip between his teeth, tugging gently before kissing him softly, reaching up to cup his stubbly cheeks in both hands.

Dan feels Phil’s shaky hands go to his waist, a firm grip on his squishy hips. Dan really hopes the small indents from Phil’s fingers will be bruised on his hips for days, but he knows Phil isn’t being nearly rough enough.

He gives Phil’s lip a final nip before pulling away and sitting up, looking down at Phil and running his hands up and down Phil’s chest. “Are we ready to have that talk yet?”

Phil pouts again. “After breakfast?”

Dan rolls his eyes fondly, climbing out of bed and stretching his arms over his head, watching as Phil’s gaze moved down to the tent in his pyjama pants. He smirks, turning away from Phil and walking out of the bedroom and towards the kitchen.

After a few minutes of putting around the kitchen making bowls of cereal and mugs of coffee, his hormones finally calm down and he isn’t constantly distracted by the burning need to touch himself. Or let Phil touch him. Or just touching each other.

After their talk, Dan thinks, then they’ll take care of their little problems. Or in Phil’s case, big problem.

-

Dan returns with bowls of cereal that he sets on the bedside table, before going back to the kitchen to grab their coffees. By the time he’s back with the hot drinks, Phil’s finished nearly half his cereal.

“Hungry?” Dan asks as he hands Phil the coffee he’s reaching out for.

“Starving. And I can’t function without my coffee,” He grumbles, sipping the drink that nearly burnt Dan’s hand as he carried it in.

“Your mum didn’t lie, you desperately need your coffee, huh?” He teases, and Phil throws a playful glare his way.

“This coffee is…too good. Too fancy for me.” He mumbles, spooning more cereal into his mouth.

“Wow, you pleb. That’s special coffee that my brother brought me from France.”

“It’s nasty,” He grumbles as he sips it again anyways. “My plebby ass enjoys instant coffee.”

Dan shakes his head, mixing his cereal and milk in the bowl. “You disgust me.”

Phil shrugs as he finishes his cereal.

“You can go help yourself to more if you want,” Dan offers, but Phil shakes his head and sips at the coffee again.

Phil sets the coffee down before climbing out of the bed and going to Dan’s bathroom. He returns a few minutes later, wiping his wet hands on his pyjama pants as Dan sets his empty cereal bowl aside with Phil’s.

“Talk time?” Dan asks tentatively.

“Guess so,” Phil says, wrapping the duvet around himself once he’s comfortable back in bed.

“Last night was…a lie to cover-up your butt, but do you want to date?”

Phil shrugs and nods. “Yeah, I do. I didn’t really lie, I’ve always had a crush on you since I first met you, but, I just…” He sighs heavily. “I don’t know…”

“You don’t want to be with me?”

“I do, that’s not what I said. I just mean, it’ll be hard, won’t it?” He asks, curling into himself a bit.

Dan nods, picking at the sheets. “Yeah, I mean we’ll have to lie, but isn’t it worth the shot?”

“Couldn’t you lose your job? For dating an employee?”

Dan shakes his head. “No, I won’t. But it’d be you that does.”

Phil sighs heavily, running his fingers through his hair. “Well, I don’t want to be without a job either.”

“I could support you though,”

Phil shakes his head. “No. I don’t want you to be like, my sugar daddy, or something. Gross. Plus, I really like this job, and not just because I get to work with you,”

Dan leans over and grabs his hands, holding them both in his own as he kisses Phil softly. “Fine, no sugar daddy-ness. Then we keep it a secret?”

Phil shrugs, nodding a bit. “I guess so. Because I don’t want to give you up.”

“You can’t get rid of me that easily, Lester.” Dan teases, kissing him again and pulling him closer by the duvet. “So, you’re my boyfriend?”

Phil nods a bit, smiling brightly and leaning into Dan’s grasp. “And you’re mine?”

“That’s sort of how this works.”

Phil blushes and giggles, tucking his face into Dan’s neck and moving to wrap his arms around Dan’s middle. “I’ve never had a boyfriend. So official.”

“You haven’t…what?”

“I’ve gone out with guys and messed around with guys. Just…never had a boyfriend,” Phil shrugs, smiling.

Dan kisses his temple. “I feel honoured that I get to be your first boyfriend.”

-

They ended up just cuddling and watching Netflix after their talk, until Dan falls back to sleep. He only gets to rest for a little while before he gets woken up by a phone ringtone.

He groans and pokes at Phil. “It’s 2019 why the actual _fuck_ do you have your ringtone on?”

Phil grumbles and reaches over phone his phone, and Dan can see Kath’s ID on the screen calling him. “For reasons like this,” He says, rolling out of bed and taking the warmth with him to answer the phone. He goes into the hall for some privacy, and Dan starfishes on the bed, feeling giddy.

Phil is his boyfriend.

And he is Phil’s boyfriend.

Phil comes back into the bedroom a few minutes later and closes the door behind him. He walks back over to the bed and flops down, mostly on top of Dan, face first. “Mum wants me home,”

“Aww, such a Mumma’s boy.” Dan giggles, kissing the nearest piece of Phil’s skin that he can, which happens to be his bony elbow.

“She wants to go to the shops, and Martyn’s using it as an excuse to catch up on work so now I have to go with her,”

Dan reaches for Phil’s back, rubbing it slowly. “It’ll be alright. Maybe you’ll find something really cool to buy!”

Phil snorts and rolls off of him, sitting up before turning to lean down and kiss Dan. “Maybe I’ll go buy something for my _boyfriend_.” He grins.

Dan smiles against his lips, humming happily. “I love presents,”

Phil gets up and goes to Dan’s closet, helping himself to some clothes before going to grab his phone off the bedside table. “Think I can come back over tonight?”

Dan nods from his spot on the bed, smiling up at his younger boyfriend. “Of course. Just let me know if I need to make dinner or anything,”

Phil goes back to Dan, now fully dressed in his new boyfriends clothes as he pecks his lips. “I’ll see you later,”

“Seeya,” Dan says, keeping his eyes on Phil as he leaves the bedroom. He keeps staring at the bedroom door until he hears the front door close and automatically lock. He stares at the ceiling, smiling to himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> come say hi on tumblr @dip-the-pip


	11. Chapter 11

_dogdogdog -P_

_Dan there’s a maaaaassiveeee dog outside this shop -P_

_He’s big and goobery!! -P_

_thicc -D_

_no!!! hes a baby!!! -P_

Dan grins as he’s sent a picture from Phil of a big fluffy brown dog that almost looks like a bear.

_I sat out on the bench while my mum was in the shop and the owner came back out and let me pat him! -P_

_His name is Hector and hes a newfoundlander doggo -P_

_is he as soft as he looks? -D_

_yknow that big fluffy grey blanket in your lounge? softer than that -P_

_omg -D_

_steal him, pls -D_

_if he wasn’t bigger than me I would -P_

_im in love with him -D_

_love at first sight!! -P_

Phil gives a few more pats to Hector before the owner walks away with him, and he decides to be a good son and finally go look around the shop with his mum.

He finds her in the candle aisle and grabs a pastel blue candle, sniffling it and gagging playfully. “This smells like Martyn’s feet.”

Kathryn laughs melodically, handing him a red candle. “He was always a smelly boy, wasn’t he?”

“Was? He still is,” They laugh together as Kathryn adds a few candles to her cart.

“Are there any you want, dear?” She asks, now opening and sniffing different hand soaps. Phil chews on his lip, looking up and down at the shelf of candles.

“I might have a sniff,” He says, grabbing a candle with an eye-catching title. He gives it a sniff and grimaces. He goes through a variety of candles, from fruity, to sweet vanilla-y scents, and then some “manly” gross smelling candles.

He’s seen candles littered around Dan’s apartment, all in little candle holders that matched the aesthetic of his flat.

He finds a greyish candle tucked behind a row of strawberry-watermelon candles, and he’s immediately hit with the scent. Woodsy, a little spicy, somehow it smells warm, too?

 He grabs a candle holder that he thinks matches his boyfriends other candle holders before he pauses in the middle of the aisle, grinning more than he probably should be in public for no reason, but in his mind, he does have a reason. He has a _boyfriend._ More specifically, _Dan_ is his boyfriend. The man that he’s met a few times whenever he’s been to the city to visit Martyn, is his boyfriend. This successful, independent, mature, grown-ass man is his _boyfriend_.

Phil feels giddy as he puts the candle and holder in Kath’s cart before going to sniff hand soaps with her. All he wants is to be back in Dan’s bed with him but spending time with his mum is nice too. He really does miss her but being in London is definitely where he’s meant to be. Free, on his own (besides Martyn and Cornelia), living his life out and proud.

Martyn’s always been accepting. Even 5 years ago, he probably wouldn’t have been as alright with his baby brother coming out as gay, but Cornelia has definitely helped educate Martyn since they’ve been together. Martyn was never a bad person, he’s not violent or rude or aggressive, just a little closed-minded.

Martyn was actually the first person he came out to, not by choice though. Phil was being careless when their parents were away visiting their Auntie, and brought a boy back to the house, thinking Martyn was staying with Cornelia.

Unfortunately for Martyn, he walked into Phil’s room to see his brother on his knees in front of a stranger.

Phil can feel his cheeks heat up as he adds a handsoap to the cart. Martyn definitely didn’t deserve to figure out about his sexuality that way, but it is what it is.

After the guy had left in a rush, looking horrified, Martyn had made himself and Phil some tea and they had _that talk_. It had been the first time he said he was gay out loud and to another person, and he’s so, so thankful that it was a positive response.

When Phil had asked to move in with Martyn, he had said yes, of course, but not to let that horrifying memory repeat itself with a random London man. Phil knew that wasn’t going to be an issue, since he hadn’t had a random hook-up since then.

He was way too scared to go through that again. Even if it was with Dan, he doesn’t think he’d be able to do anything sexual in Martyn and Cornelia’s apartment.

He follows Kath to the counter to pay, and he pulls out his wallet to pay for his items when his mum smacks his hand.

“Don’t be silly, boy. Save your money, I can get it for you.” She smiles warmly, and Phil smiles in return and tucks his wallet back into his pocket.

“Thanks mum.”

-

They go to a little café and have a quick lunch before taking everything to Martyn’s car that they had borrowed and load up their bags in the boot of the car.

Kathryn climbs into the driver’s seat and waits for Phil to climb in too before she starts the drive to her oldest sons’ apartment.

“So, it seems you’re enjoying London, hm?” She asks Phil, who nods in response.

“Yeah, big difference from Manchester. People are angrier here, but overall it’s better,” small talk always makes Phil squirm. It feels awkward and forced, even when it’s his own mother. He doesn’t think she’d be able to handle his real answer, anyways. He doesn’t think he could look at his mum and tell her he likes London more because its away from her and his dad, that he doesn’t need to be worried or on edge, that he doesn’t have to listen to the constant questioning of “when are you going to get your life together”, and “when are you going to get past this phase and settle down with a nice girl”.

He loves his parents, but he can’t grow and learn and gain life experience with them constantly over his shoulder telling him everything he’s doing wrong. He wants to be able to make mistakes without their needless comments and criticisms.

Kath gives an airy laugh, reaching over to pat Phil’s knee. “I’m sure you can handle it.”

Phil nods as his mum reaches to turn on the radio and they settle into silence. Phil pulls his phone out from his pocket and texts his _boyfriend_.

_got you presents -P_

_is it food -D_

_no -P_

_then whats the point? -D_

_you make so much money. You can literally order food to your door -P_

_too much human interaction -D_

_come home -D_

Phil’s stomach fills with butterflies as he reads and rereads over Dan’s text. _Come home._

_we just finished up at the shops, just gonna go home and drop everything off, have a quick shower and then I’ll head over -P_

_don’t bother with a shower. pls just come over as soon as you can -D_

_wait is everything okay???? -P_

_i mean, I guess nothings really wrong. Just lonely. Want you back here -D_

_I will, as soon as I can. I promise -P_

It unsettles Phil a bit when he doesn’t get a reply from Dan, and it makes his mind race. Dan had said he was safe and fine, but that doesn’t stop him from worrying. When they get back to the apartment, Phil loads up bags on his arms to help bring everything in a little faster. He grabs Dan’s presents from the bags and finds an old birthday present bag in Martyn’s storage room. He puts the gifts in and adds some crumpled up newspaper on top, so at least Dan could feel like he was opening a present and not just being given stuff.

He goes to his room and puts on some deodorant before packing up a backpack full of his own clothes and bathroom stuff. Is he moving too fast by bringing stuff to Dan’s place already? He looks down at the face wash and clay face mask cream in his hands before deciding to just throw them in his bag along with his clothes and a toothbrush. Even if he is moving too fast, Phil thinks they started out fast.

They didn’t start out with cute glances, coffee dates, shy touches. No, things started out passionate and fast and while Phil doesn’t have any regrets, he doesn’t like the story ‘oh we went clubbing with my brother and sister-in-law and we went home together’. There’s not a whole lot he can really do about that though.

He slings his backpack over his shoulder and grabs Dan’s present before going out to the living room. Cornelia’s home now, having left their shopping trip early on when she got a call to go record some vocals.

They’re sitting at the dining room table, talking softly over a cuppa tea when Phil clears his throat loudly. They both turn to him, smiling. “I’m going over to Dan’s.”

Kathryn tsk’s softly, shaking her head. “Abandoning your poor old mum,”

Cornelia giggles into her tea, taking a sip before offering him a toothy grin, “Go have fun, Philly. I can take care of mumma Lester.”

Phil laughs softly as he slips on his shoes. “I’m leaving tomorrow afternoon, dear. Will you be back before I go?” Kath asks.

Phil nods, “Of course, mum. Text me the time and I’ll be sure to be back.”

Cornelia and Kathryn wave him off as he runs out the door and flags down a cab.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> come say hi on tumblr @dip-the-pip


	12. Chapter 12

_Everything feels heavy. Everything seems grey. Everything is too much._

_The knocking…it needs to stop. Why is there knocking._

_It just keeps going…_

_Knock, knock, knock, knock_

Dan’s about to roll over and bury his face in his soft grey pillow when he hears a “Da-an!” and more obnoxious knocking.

_Phil…why’s Phil so far away…_

“Dan!”

_Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock_

Dan groans softly, managing to open his eyes a bit to see the dark room around him. He needs to get up, he needs to go find him…

The knocking stops, and then he feels his phone vibrating loudly under his head. He grumbles softly as he reaches mindlessly under his pillow for his phone. He clicks the green accept button and puts it on speaker, placing his phone on his chest and closing his eyes again.

“Dan, are you okay? Where are you?”

“In my bed…”

“I-I…Are you mad at me?” Phil sounds breathless, but not nearly as pleasant and sexy as he does after Dan’s had his mouth wrapped around him.

“Not you…”

“Then talk to me, please, or come let me in?”

Dan shakes his head before realizing Phil can’t see him. “That’s so far…”

“Please, Dan. Once you come let me in, I can help you.”

“You can’t help me, Phil. I’m not helpable.”

Phil groans softly, leaning his forehead against the door and closing his eyes. “Please, Dan…”

Dan sniffles softly, letting his eyes fall shut. “The plant down the hall to your left, there’s a key taped underneath the lip of the pot.”

Phil hangs up the call and strides over to the potted plant, feeling under the lip of the container until his fingers brush over something small and cold. He wraps his fingers and tears it away before going back over to Dan’s door and unlocking it. He puts down his present in the kitchen.

The apartment is dark and cold, it feels unsettling. He walks through the apartment and goes into Dan’s dark bedroom. He doesn’t want to spook Dan, so instead of turning the light on, he turns his flashlight on his phone and goes to his bedside table to flick on a lamp.

He sees Dan laying on ‘phil’s’ side of the bed, and his phone still laying on top of his chest. He climbs in the bed and pulls Dan into his arms, feeling him stiffen slightly.

Dan tries to fight him, trying to roll away. Phil holds him tighter, wrapping his arms around him and holding him to his chest tighter.

“I’ve got you…I’ve got you…” Phil kisses his temple, feeling Dan trying to get away before he finally relaxes into Phil’s grasp, sobbing into his neck. Phil scratches his nails slowly up and down his back. “Did something happen? You’re kinda scaring me here.”

Dan shakes his head, sniffling and wiping his eyes on Phil’s shirt. “Nothing happened…just a bad day…”

Phil nods, holding him tighter and breathing deeply. “I’m sorry I was gone all day…”

“Not your fault, your mum’s in town…” He mumbles, letting out another broken sob. Phil’s heart clenches as he runs his fingers through his curls. His hair is a little greasy for not being washed, and he doesn’t think Dan’s left bed since he left this morning.

“I should’ve brought you with me,”

“You aren’t here to save me, Phil. This would’ve happened regardless…”

“But maybe it would’ve helped? At least a little bit, surely,”

Dan shrugs half-heartedly. “Whatever, it’s over with.” He sniffles, wiping his eyes before looking up at Phil with dark brown eyes.

Phil presses his lips against Dan’s temple before he pulls away and climbs out of bed.

“Where are you going?” Dan asks softly, sniffling grossly as Phil walks out of the bedroom. Dan’s only alone for a few moments before Phil returns with a present bag. Dan sits up a bit in bed, rubbing his eyes before reaching out for the baggy.

Phil hands it over before climbing into the bed next to Dan, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. “I told you that I was going to get you a gift today,”

Dan smiles up at Phil, pecking his lips before pulling at the bag to get it open. Once he pulls the tape apart and pulls out all the newspaper, his eyes light up. He pulls out the candle, giving it a big sniff and humming happily. “Oh my gosh, this is wonderful,” He says as he turns the candle around in his hands, reading the label and the ingredients, occasionally bringing it back to his nose for another whiff. Next, he pulls out the candle holder, and he gives a soft gasp. “This will look perfect in the lounge,”

Phil grins, “That’s what I figured. These both seemed to match your whole dark and dreary vibe you’ve got going on around your flat,”

Dan rolls his eyes, nudging Phil softly. “It’s not my “vibe”, you weirdo. It’s my aesthetic,”

“Ass-thetic,”

Dan snorts as he sets the candle and holder aside and reaches back into the back. He pulls out two foaming hand soaps, one a dark red and the other a soft pink. He opens the dark red one, smelling it and moaning. “Holy fuck, I wanna drink this,”

“Probably not the smartest idea, but I had the same thought when I smelled it. Its black cherry scented. And the other one is cherry blossom scented.”

Dan closes up the red soap and opens the pink one, humming. “Really flowery, but still pleasant. Good picks, Lester,”

Phil grins as Dan puts everything back into the back and turns to wrap his arms around his shoulders, tucking his face into his neck. Phil giggles, feeling curls tickle his neck and ear.

“Thank you for my presents,” Dan mumbles into his skin. “But I wasn’t lying when I said I wanted food…”

“I was going to pick up food on my way here, but then I was worried about you,”

Dan hums, nodding. “What do you want, then? I’ll just order it now,”

“Actually,” Phil grabs Dan by his hips, pushing him away slightly. Dan looks up at him with concerned eyes. “What if we went on a real date?”

“A dinner date?”

Phil laughs softly, nodding. “Yes, a dinner date. Don’t worry, you’ll get fed.” He kisses him softly, “I just figured, maybe we need to go on a date, just the two of us,”

Dan nods, running his hands up and down his chest slowly. “I…actually like that idea. I still look and smell like shit, though. Do I have time to shower?”

“Of course, I’ll look into restaurants around here,”

Dan kisses Phil softly, moving his hands up his chest and to cup his cheeks, before pulling away and climbing out of bed, stretching his arms above his head and groaning as different joints crack. “Date night with my boyfriend, I can’t wait,” He says with a wink before he walks into the bathroom and shuts the door before Phil can get another word in.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> come say hi on tumblr @dip-the-pip


	13. Chapter 13

The restaurant is cute, dimly lit, and smells phenomenal. Phil’s across from him, dressed up in a nice button up and one of Dan’s extra blazers, trying to wrap his lips around the names of the Italian dishes on the menu. Dan smiles a little to himself, sipping the dark red wine he had ordered for them when they first arrived.

It may have been Phil’s idea to go out on a date, but considering Dan’s the one who signs Phil’s paychecks, he decides to treat him to dinner instead, which obviously means expensive red wine. Phil had insisted that he could get dinner, or that they could go somewhere cheaper so Dan didn’t feel guilty about making him pay, but Dan wouldn’t have it. It’s their first date, goddammit, Dan wants to spoil the fuck out of his boyfriend.

“Dan?” Phil says, looking at Dan in such a way that Dan quickly realizes means that he’s tried to catch his attention a few times. “You still in there?”

Dan nods, reaching across the table to grasp Phil’s hand, interlocking their fingers. “Just thinking about how lucky I am,”

Phil squeezes Dan’s hand in return before glancing around. “This place is nice. Ever been?”

Dan nods a bit. “Uh, yeah a few times actually,” he sips his drink again and smiles softly, his eyes golden in the dimmed lighting. “the food is spectacular.”

“Considering I can’t say a single word on this menu besides ‘garlic mashed potatoes’, I’m guessing it has to be pretty great.” Phil jokes, nudging his foot against Dan’s under the table.

Their orders get placed and their wines get refilled. Phil tells stories of his childhood, with embarrassing stories of his older brother thrown in every now and then. Dan chimes in with his own jokes or little anecdotes from him and his own brother growing up.

Phil’s in depth explaining how he started a hamster colony when he was younger when he let his hamsters breed for fun, when their food gets set in front of them, and they get a slightly dirty look from the waiter.

Phil snickers as he walks away, and leans over to whisper to Dan. “Don’t think he’s a fan of hamster sex.”

Dan snorts, picking up his fork to mix his pasta and sauce together. “I’m not too sure many people are, Phil. Quite a taboo thing to be a fan of, hm?”

“Professional hamster breeders are a fan of it.”

“Are they a fan of it, or is it just their job?”

Phil stares at him for a moment, a playful grin on his lips as he shrugs, beginning to cut into his chicken parm. “When I was younger, I wanted to work in a zoo, be like a lion tamer, or save some baby otters or something. Then I did work experience at a vet and passed out cold watching a surgery. Mum decided then that my stomach was too weak to go into something medical. Apparently to be a lion tamer you always gotta know how to take care of them,” He says with an overdramatic eyeroll. “Amateurs. I could absolutely be a lion whisperer without any medical training.”

Dan giggles behind a mouthful of pasta. He lifts his napkin to his lips to wipe away a bit of sauce before reaching across to wipe some food from the corner of Phil’s mouth too. “I wanted to be an actor for a long time. Well, maybe not just an actor, but a performer. I just liked being on stage, now I can barely give a speech to a boardroom full of cranky old men.”

Phil purses his lips as Dan dabs away the food before smiling. “I can see you on a stage. Front and centre. You are a little dramatic at times, I could absolutely see you on a stage,”

Dan feels his cheeks warm as he shrugs dismissively. “No way to get there now, just stuck behind a desk for the rest of eternity.”

“Well, at least it’s an eternity with me!”

Dan freezes up for a moment before Phil’s laughing heartily, holding his stomach. “Crap that was stupid and cheesy. I more meant, like, you’re trapped with me. As your PA.”

Dan lets out a deep breath and laughs quietly, shaking his head. “You are stupid and cheesy. But an eternity with you doesn’t sound too bad.”

The share a smile before letting the conversation carry on. When they finish their dinners, they’re both holding their stomach and complaining about being full, but still ask to see the dessert menu.

“What the absolutely hell is a molten chocolate cake?” Dan asks in shock, his eyes practically popping out of his head as he reads the description for the treat.

“My Auntie used to make us mini molten chocolate cakes for New Years Eve. They’re heavenly. I mean, they can burn you, but if you add a scoop of ice cream on top it usually helps.”

Dan hums happily, licking his lips subconsciously. “Wanna share one?”

Phil giggles and reaches across the table to gently squeeze Dan’s hands. “It’s nothing against you, but Lester’s don’t share desserts.”

Dan’s jaw drops and he looks at Phil like he personally offended him, but Phil can see the small lines crinkling around his eyes that show he’s not seriously upset. “Fine by me, I don’t wanna share with you anyways,” He says with a splash of sass, sticking his tongue out at Phil as their waiter comes back to their table. Dan orders a molten cake with a scoop of French vanilla ice cream on top for each of them, and Phil watches him order with a fond gaze.

Once their waiter walks away, Phil smiles. “We did this backwards, didn’t we?”

“Hm?” Dan hums, shifting in his seat so he can pull his wallet out from his pocket.

“First date after already sleeping together?”

“Well,” Dan shrugs. “We haven’t _actually_ slept together,”

Phil rolls his eyes. “Okay but like, basically. We got each other off before our first date. You met my mum before our first date!”

Dan shrugs his shoulders again. “You saying me grinding up against you in a club with your brother and sister-in-law isn’t a first date?” He teases, and Phil’s cheeks get noticeably redder.

“Definitely not.” He mumbles as he sips at his wine, making a face. “Wine’s nasty. Why couldn’t we get fruity cocktails?”

“Red wine is the perfect first date drink!” Dan says defensively. “Second date can be fruity cocktails, I promise.”

Phil moves his wine glass in front of Dan for him to finish. “Good.”

-

Dan doesn’t even let Phil see the bill before he pays quickly, and next thing Phil knows, they’re in a cab back to Dan’s apartment.

They hold hands in the darkness of the back of the cab, Dan occasionally bringing their clasped hands to his lips to kiss Phil’s fingers and tipsily tell him how pretty he is.

Once they make it back to Dan’s flat, Phil mostly helps Dan onto the lift and to his apartment. Dan definitely had more to drink at dinner, since Phil could barely stand the bitter wine, but it filled him with warmth getting to take care of Dan now. First time they had gotten drunk together, Dan had taken care of Phil’s drunk ass all night. Now, it’s Phil’s turn to shine.

He manages to get Dan into the flat and to his bedroom before he shoves him onto the unmade bed. Dan whines as Phil kneels in front of him to untie his shoes. “Phil…Philly come to bed,” He whines with a bit of a slur to his words. “Pretty on your knees, prettier cuddling me,”

Phil giggles as he tosses Dan’s shoes towards his shoe rack. Next he helps him take off his blazer and button up shirt, tossing them carelessly towards Dan’s laundry hamper. Dan smiles up at him goofily, his dimple indenting into his clean-shaven cheek.

“Pretty Philly, pretty pretty…”

“You’re absolutely ridiculous, you know that?” As bitter as that is, Phil’s words have no bite to them. Instead, he’s giving Dan a belly-butterfly inducing smile.

“Sure, but you’re the one undressing me, I think you’re the ridiculous one. I’m just the Dick-ulous one.”

Phil snorts, leaning forward and tucking his face into Dan’s warm neck. He breathes him in for a few moments before pulling away, kissing him quickly. “Now I understand why you put me to bed when I was drunk,”

“You were so cute,” Dan mumbles. He’s laying on his back now, his legs dangling off the bed while Phil tries to peel his trousers off. “Drunk n’ sleepy. And horny, but alcohol and sex is a no-no in Danny’s books,”

Phil smiles, finally managing to get his trousers and pants off. He tosses them aside, too, before going to grab a clean pair of boxers and pyjama pants for Dan. He redresses him and helps him get comfortable in bed before going to grab his backpack. He pulls out his own pyjama pants and gets changed before he hears a whine coming from Dan.

“What’re doing?” He mumbles. He’s looking over at Phil with heavy eyes, and he can tell he’s nearly asleep.

“Putting on pyjamas?”

“You look prettier in mine,” he slurs. He lets his eyes close now as Phil looks down at himself. He glances back at Dan before kicking off his pyjama pants and going to grab another pair from Dan’s dresser. “Much better,” Dan says when he peeks his eyes open again, his voice deep and exhausted.

Phil’s about to climb into bed alongside him when his phone starts to ring. He see’s his mum’s contact pop up, and he gives Dan a quick peck before stepping out of the bedroom. He closes the bedroom door behind him and goes to the lounge to answer the call, pacing back and forth.

“Mum?”

“Phil, I thought you said you’d be coming home tonight?”

“I- What?” Phil sits on the couch, running one of his hands through his hair, messing it up from when Dan put product in it before they left for dinner. “I didn’t say I’d be coming home tonight. I said I was staying the night at Dan’s.”

“No, all you said was that you were going to Dan’s. It’s my last night in town, I did want to spend some time with you and your brother.”

Phil rubs his face hard before leaning back into the couch. “Can I bring Dan?”

“He’s a grown boy, he doesn’t need you to drag him around everywhere.”

“But mum, he’s dru-”

“Get your behind back here now, Philip. I am still your mother, I am still paying off your university debt, the least you can do is come see me while I’m here.”

Phil swallows thickly as tears swell. He was a mumma’s boy, she never snapped at him like that. So, he nods, and clears his throat. “Yeah. Be home soon,” He mumbles and quickly hangs up.

He gets up from the couch and takes a few deep breaths, calming himself down before going back into the bedroom. Dan’s eyes are still open, but barely. Phil can tell he’s trying as hard as he can to stay awake.

“Everything okay?”

Phil nods, sniffling a little bit as he goes to grab his backpack. He pulls clothes from out of his bag, tossing them on the bed carelessly as he glares at his backpack.

“Really? Because it looks like you’re about to tear that bag to shreds. What happened?”

Phil takes a deep breath before zipping up the bag and getting redressed into the clothes he arrived at Dan’s in. “Mum snapped at me, told me to go back to Martyn’s.”

“Oh. I mean…she still has that sort of control over you?”

“While she’s paying off my debt, apparently so. I’m sorry, I really am. I don’t want to leave you…”

Dan offers him a sleepy, dopey smile. He reaches out for Phil’s hand and kisses the palm before putting it to his cheek and nuzzling into it. “Not your fault. Once she leaves, I get you all to myself again, right?”

“Right,” Phil says softly, leaning down and kissing him. When they pull away, Phil places another quick peck to his lips before throwing his backpack over his shoulder. “I’ll text you when I get home, though I’m sure you’ll be passed out before I even leave the building.”

“Probably,” He yawns into his own hand and burrows down into the blankets and pillows.

“Thank you for a great first date,” Phil says softly, running his fingers through Dan’s product-filled curls, causing them to stick up in silly ways that makes Phil’s heart a little fuller.

-

Phil walks into Martyn’s flat to see his brother and mum sitting in the lounge sipping tea. Kath is quick to apologize for taking Phil away from his night out but wanted to spend her last night with her boys. She gets up and goes to the kitchen to make Phil a coffee, and Martyn turns to face his younger brother.

“Did Mum pull you away from some good times?”

Phil rolls his eyes. “No, we had just gotten back from a date. Our first date, actually.”

“Oh wow, I had no idea.”

“Yeah, we figured we should start doing things correctly.”

Martyn chuckles. “Little too late for that, but it’s worth the effort. Where’d you go?”

“A cute little Italian place near Dan’s flat.”

Martyn snickers as he sips his tea. “He took you to the same place he proposed to Joshua?”

Phil feels his world stop. He can’t tell if his heart has stopped beating, or if it’s beating too fast for him to realize it’s even beating. “W-Who?”

Martyn shakes his head dismissively, waving his hand. “Must’ve been a different place, sorry, didn’t mean to bring it up.”

“Dan was engaged?”

Martyn stands up then, necking back the last few sips of his tea before heading towards the kitchen. “Not my issue. Don’t stress, though. It was a long time ago. And if it helps, no, Dan wasn’t engaged.”

Phil’s hands are shaking. His eyes feel like they’re buzzing inside his head. He feels sick.

Martyn comes back to the lounge once he’s put his teacup in the dishwasher and pats Phil on the shoulder. “He proposed, but he wasn’t engaged. That should tell you all you need to know,” He says with a gentle pat on his little brother’s shoulder before he saunters off to his bedroom.

Before his mum can bring back his cup of coffee, Phil’s thrown his shoes back on and left the apartment.

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi on tumblr @dip-the-pip


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